Ever felt like a seed in the desert awaiting your superbloom? Chris Gonzalez says he finally got to his vocation of marriage and family therapy thanks to key people in his life. We talk about the healing power of relationships, how presence is itself healing, and that empathy is the ability to detect the emotional condition of another person and demonstrate that you care about it. A recent health crisis affirmed for Chris what has been a guiding principle in his work and life: relationships matter.

Highlights from our conversation

• A mother’s nurturing influence.
• A mentor: “Without him, I’m not doing what I’m doing.”
• How listening scratched an itch.
• A first therapist was the first time “someone else was interested in my hurt.”
• “My confidence is in the rearview mirror.”
• Marriage, family, friendships are all pathways to the image of God.
• “To heal alone is to have to heal twice.”
• The definition of empathy.
• Without trust, “there’s a hole in the bottom of the bucket.”
• We are the intervention.
• Don’t waste a hurt; seek to redeem it.

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What if your winding career path is actually the point? As Kate Watkins, who started on a farm and has come back to the farm, puts it, “Your life is chasing you your whole life.” Her desires to delight were planted early as a candy striper, leading her through a maze of jobs and educational pursuits that would culminate in a doctorate of ministry and the life lesson to “minister wherever you are.” A major insight, gained from her work in Tennessee’s prisons, was that most of us on the “outside” have a weak theology of suffering. Talking with Kate is ever a feast for my soul. May listening in be a feast for yours.

Highlights from our conversation

• Early dreams can come to fruition
• “Your life is chasing you your whole life.”
• God places people in your life, even at the dry cleaner’s and the mall.
• Do Kingdom where you are. Be a chaplain where you are.
• How a baby that leaped in her stomach…
• …was born 7 years later.
• And when Richard Goode asked her to pray about it…
• …she didn’t need to because, “Today is the answer to that prayer.”
• I share a holy moment from my own work at the prison. Of how you think you’re going to bless another, and you are the one who comes away blessed.

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Visit Leanne's Website: https://www.leannewsmith.com/

Contact Leanne's team @ info@leannewsmith.com

Have you ever watched your career soar — only to hit a wall you didn't see coming? In this episode, Marty Kittrell, well-versed in corporate strategy, finance, security offerings, private equity, and board practices, gets candid about navigating the gap between professional highs and hard-hitting setbacks. Whether you're climbing, stumbling, or somewhere in between, Marty's story will leave you with a fresh perspective on what it means to lead, learn, and give back.

Follow Leanne on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leanne.w.smith/

Visit Leanne's Website: https://www.leannewsmith.com/

Contact Leanne's team @ info@leannewsmith.com